It’s pretty normal for cousins of similar ages to hang out in their spare time.
Hart High golf’s Paige Heuer and Brooke Harrison are normal like that. But when they came out on top as co-medalists in the Indians’ match against Saugus High on Tuesday, they took it to another level.
“With Paige being the best on the team, too, it’s really nice to know that I’m playing with my cousin and also competing with the best player,” Harrison said. “It’s a bond that most people don’t share. It feels good to share that with her and to share the victory.”
The pair finished the day with 8-over 41s. Clara Venger of Saugus, which won the non-league match, 222-234, was the next-best finisher at 9-over 42.
Marie Naud and Ally Scott both shots 43s for the Centurions, who have posted four of six necessary playoff qualifying scores. They needed a 215 on Tuesday and just missed.
“Playing today gave us a great opportunity to do that,” said Saugus coach Cal Linam. “But we’ll have a couple more chances before the due date runs out. We just have to be a lot more consistent around the greens.”
The Indians competed with only five golfers, which prevented them from dropping their highest score.
Although they were unable to earn the team victory, Harrison said that having co-medalists from the same team was a good indication for Hart golf as a whole.
“We have become so much more of a team,” Harrison said. “I feel like last season we were struggling. This season I think we showed a lot of people that we put time and effort into it. Placing fourth (at the last Foothill League match) and winning co-medalist has helped team confidence.”
Heuer and Harrison are both using their experience to help less battle-tested golfers on the team.
“After we play, we stay after and we help each other out and hit balls on the range,” Heuer said. “We all try harder each time and work even harder practicing.”
Each also works to build the team’s confidence by assuring the less experienced players that one bad match isn’t a reason to give up on golf.
Heuer, who finished fifth individually at the last league meet, has seen improvement throughout the season.
“I’m really happy about (being co-medalist). My fairway shots and my putting were both good. I’ve been working on everything really hard lately.
“I’m pretty confident. I just need to work on my game even more. … Tune out distractions and just focus on what I have to do.”
Harrison said that the day’s honor also gave her mental reassurance.
“It was definitely needed for my game,” she said. “I’ve been waiting all season for a good score and it came today.
“Mentally, it definitely shows me what I can do after I put in so much hard work for golf. And it shows me that hard work does pay off.”
Saugus’ next match is against Valencia on Thursday. Then comes Foothill League meets Nos. 5 and 6 on Oct. 18 and 19th, respectively.
